Our Canada based Law Firm is staffed with more than 25 licensed lawyers, licensed immigration consultants and technical personnel. Our firm represents international celebrities in the fashion industry and performing arts as well as some of North America’s largest corporations in their immigration and staffing projects.

An Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) is a new requirement for foreign nationals from visa-exempt countries arriving in Canada by air, whether to visit the country directly or to pass through in transit.

The Introduction of the Downloadable IMM 5455 Supplementary Identification Form

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides details about the new downloadable version of the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455).

Background

The authorities use the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455) for collecting client information. This information pertains to the processing of Permanent Residence (PR) Cards.

The printed version of the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455) has:

An integrated adhesive photo patch and,

A shaded box for assisting with the digital capture of the applicant’s signature

Because of these special features, the form was not available in a downloadable format until now.

Permanent Residence (PR) Card applicants typically needed to contact Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for obtaining these forms. The CIC would make provisions for sending the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455) by mail.

Naturally, sending the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455) by mail involved the consumption of time. As a result, the application process for applicants experienced delays. In addition, the use of mail resulted in the CIC bearing increased postage and handling costs too.

The New Format

The new downloadable format of the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455) will be available from February 01, 2012. Interested applicants would be able to find this form in a fillable and downloadable format.

In the new Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455), the shaded signature box is no longer a requirement. This is because the applicant’s signature feature will no longer appear on the Permanent Resident (PR) Cards. This is especially so for Permanent Resident (PR) Cards issued as of February 01, 2012.

Instead, the authorities will ask applicants to provide their photos. For this purpose, the applicants will need to send their photos in a small envelope. They would need to send this envelope along with their completed Supplementary Identification Forms (IMM 5455). However, they would need to note that they must not attach their photos to the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455).

The authorities will mount the photos with a stick-on adhesive patch. They will do this at the Case Processing Centre – Permanent Resident (PR) Card in Sydney. The authorities have made the necessary amendments in the Permanent Resident (PR) Card application and guide. Both these documents reflect the updated changes at present.

Because of these changes, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will no longer be mailing the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455). As the form is now downloadable, mailing it to the applicants is no longer necessary.

However, in certain situations, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will need to mail the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455). OB 352 specifies the instances in which this would be necessary.

Typically, Citizenship and Immigration Canada would mail the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455) only when they need to send it to individuals who:

Request for the form in Braille or in large print format

Self identify as all of the following:

They do not have access to the internet or do not have a printer

They do not have family members of friends who could assist them and,

They are unable to access application kits via an organisation or business because of a mobility disability OR,

Reside in remote areas where internet access is unavailable (The Industry Canada website carries details on these areas; therefore, officers could refer to this website for verifying this)

The Case Processing Centre – Permanent Resident (PR) Card in Sydney will maintain the capacity to process either version of the Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455). However, the internal processing of photo corrections through Port of Entry and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) could continue to use the hard copy version of the form.